The modern struggle is really about individuals – disconnected from their tribe, religion and cultural networks – who are trying to stand up to all these addictions that have been weaponized:

Alcohol, drugs, pornography, processed foods, news media, Internet, social media and video games.

Addictions let you engage in fake play and fake work.

Before, you had to go socialize with friends; now, you can just get drunk with a bunch of strangers.

Before, you had to go find a mate, create children and raise a family; now, you can just watch a lot of porn.

Before, you had to hunt and climb trees to get fruit for a little bit of natural sweetness; now, you can buy all the gelato you want.

The modern struggle is standing up to these weaponized addictions. They give you small doses of pleasure, but they also desensitize you and expose you to the misery of their absence.

Breaking addiction is very hard, because you have to break the physical addiction and you also have to change your lifestyle.

You have to switch to a lifestyle in which you can be happy without that substance.

There are many factors, physical, mental, and emotional, that make quitting difficult.

Understanding why quitting is so difficult can help you see that everyone overcoming an addiction goes through the same process to some extent.

You are not especially weak or failing any more than anyone else.